


Confessions of a Sangheili and a Spartan

by Juladi_R_Porter



Category: Halo
Genre: M/M, Sorry Not Sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-27
Updated: 2014-07-27
Packaged: 2018-02-10 16:48:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2032473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juladi_R_Porter/pseuds/Juladi_R_Porter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chief gets injured in battle and Arbiter comes to the rescue.</p><p>Written for Flikkun on devientart</p>
            </blockquote>





	Confessions of a Sangheili and a Spartan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Flikkun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flikkun/gifts).



> This is already posted on Deviant Art, but I wanted to put it here too :D

The sun was high in the sky, though it was hard to see, for the tall jungle trees blocked the view of the sky almost completely. Rays of sunlight seeped through the crevices of leaves, leading to the jungle floor, where there was an old looking Covenant Base. A small distance away from the stronghold, behind a rather large fallen tree, crouched Master Chief. Also crouched by Chief’s side was the Arbiter.

Master Chief and The Arbiter had been crouched there, silent, behind the broken tree, for approximately three minutes. The two had together searched through two Covenant bases over the past week, looking for an article of information that was reportedly stashed in one of the three hidden bases. The bases that they had already infiltrated turned out to be mere warehouses; nothing of importance to them. This last base had either been informed of the attacks on the other bases somehow, or the much heavier status in guards was a sign that this was the right base.

Master Chief was pondering what to do. “If we could… How many are there, Cortana?” asked Master Chief quietly. Cortana was silent for multiple seconds before whispering, “I can’t tell. There must be something blocking my radar system. Sorry, Chief.” Master Chief didn’t say anything, but he took a quick peek over the moss-covered tree, seeing several large groups of Grunts, a couple Jackals, and about twelve Brutes. Or more. Twelve was all he could count before he pulled his head back down, preventing a curious Grunt from spotting them.

He looked to Arbiter. “Nothing we can’t handle together, right?” murmured Master Chief. The Arbiter was confused. He considered the implication of that assumption, that they could do anything if they were together. The Arbiter shook his head; he was probably over thinking complicated human sentiment. Besides, Thel didn’t even know John that well, why would he, the famous seclude, implicate such trust in him? Yes, he must be over thinking things. Thel shifted his position on the ground, making himself more comfortable, before grunting in response.

Master Chief looked back to the base, coming to the conclusion that there was no option in this situation other than to storm the base, and shoot everything in sight. Looking back to Arbiter, he whispered. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Arbiter looked puzzled, answering with the curious “How could I know what you are thinking?” Master chief repressed the urge to chuckle.

He looked at Arbiter thoughtfully, though the Arbiter could not see behind the gold tinted glass. He thought that Thel was as fascinating as a Flood spore… but not as vicious… or as ugly… well… Thel wasn’t ugly at all really, but… why was he thinking about the Arbiter’s strangely not bad looks when be should be thinking about the mission at hand.

As Master Chief crawled closer to the Arbiter, he whispered to him his plan. "I think we should just go for it. Attack them head on. Otherwise, we will be waiting a pretty long time before they lower their guards, and time is something we don’t have. So we need to do this now or never.” The Arbiter stayed quiet for some time, thinking to himself, trying to imagine the details of “Just going for it” and if it was reasonable to attack in this way.

“What do you suppose the strategy behind ‘Just going for it’ is?” asked Arbiter quietly. Master Chief seemed to be thinking about how to answer that question, but it was hard to tell with that disguising helmet he always wore. Arbiter silently wondered what was under that green and gold mask. Was He hansom? Was he Ugly?

“How about this. When we go over this tree, you go to the left, and I’ll go to the right. We’ll kill every Covenant we see. Then we’ll meet at the main entrance." Arbiter was quiet again. He didn’t like the idea of just going in blind, but Master Chief seemed so confident his plan would work, that he couldn’t help but believe him. “If there seems to be no way of accessing the interior of the base without making our presence apparent…“ the Arbiter paused, contemplating one more time if the plan was a strong one.

“That will be acceptable.” Affirms the Arbiter.

“Good.” States Master Chief.

There was another lengthy moment of silence before Master Chief nodded in the direction of the Arbiter. The Arbiter nodded back solemnly, ready to annihilate some Covenant. Master Chief was the first to move, climbing over the dead moss-covered tree hastily, the Arbiter was right behind him. Weapons drawn, the two ran their separate ways.

The Arbiter darted towards the left side of the clearing, Master Chief to the right. The sound of plasma shots rang from every angle, as they fought vigorously, giving it all they had, for the success of their mission would change the fate of Humans, Sangheili, life, everywhere. If the information about the Halo rings was really here, everyone would be better off if UNSC could get access to it. They could save the universe from the deranged Prophets.

When they cleared their respective sides, they did as they said they would do, and met up at the entrance. “Well, that was easy.” Said Master Chief, whipping his hands together. The Arbiter didn’t say anything; he only looked to Master Chief and nodded.

They stood in silence, just looking at each other. Master Chief was breathing harder than usual, but that must have been from the rough fight. “Let us continue.” The Arbiter moved then, walking towards Master Chief and the door. Chief’s breath hitched, but he quickly contained himself.

These feelings he has been having, he doesn’t understand. He has never felt this way before, but when the Arbiter looks at him he just… His heart beats fast, and he can’t control his breathing. He needs to clear his mind. He can’t be thinking about his personal affairs when he is on a mission. He cleared his throat.

“O-- Okay!“

“Are you alright, Chief?”

“Yeah… Let’s go.”

The Arbiter looked unconvinced, but he nodded again. When they opened the door, an angry Brute greeted them, but Master Chief was way ahead of it. The Brute’s body lunged backwards, as Master Chief emptied the remaining rounds from his Assault Rifle into the Brutes chest. He picked up the Spiker that the Brute dropped, checking its ammo.

They journeyed together down long twisted hallways, killing more than a few Covenant along the way. The base was so heavily guarded, and they all seemed to be panicked that they were here. Arbiter and Master Chief were positive that this was the right place. The Arbiter was started to trust the whole “Just going for it” plan.

When the two finally found the room in which the article of information was being stored, they stood stunned, for there were so many Brute Chieftains; they weren’t exactly sure what to do. They had no time to think about it though, for a Grunt saw them and started screaming “THE DEMON AND THE HERETIC! RUN!”

Master Chief and Arbiter looked at each other and again ran their separate ways. The Arbiter ran to the right, and Master Chief ran to the left, rushing towards the Brute Chieftains surrounding the article of information. 

As Master Chief ran, he tried to decide which group of uglies he was going to kill next. Settling with the closest thing to him, he ran up behind a Brute Chieftain and jumped on its back. The Brute howled as Master Chief stabbed it in the neck, blood gushing out as he yanked the knife out. The wounded Brute fell to the ground as the surrounding Grunts yelled and ran in all different directions.

Before Master Chief could unleash his wrath upon the scattering Grunts, a Brute Chieftain came charging towards him, energy from its Gravity Hammer crackling and popping. Master Chief hastily pulled out his stolen Spiker, discharging all forty rounds from the magazine into the attacking Brute, but they simply poked at the Brute’s shields.

The Arbiter battled hard, Energy Sword in hand. He was rationing what the most effective moves were. Deciding that it didn’t matter, as long as the end result was dead Covenant, he quickly approached a group of shielded Jackals, and slashed through the panicked Grunts surrounding them.

Once he killed the Grunts, the Arbiter threw himself at the wide-eyed Jackals. The Arbiter had no difficulty executing them, slashing them down, their blood spewing across the ground.

Master Chief jumped out of the way as the Brute Chieftain slammed the Gravity Hammer into the space where Chief was previously standing, the force from the jolt knocking him down to the ground, making him drop the Spiker. As the Gravity Hammer slammed down again, Master Chief quickly rolled away from the blow.

Master Chief stood up and ran to the terminal that the article of information was placed. Master Chief pulled Cortana's chip out of the back of his helmet and quickly jammed her into the terminal. "Do it!" he said before he was hit and flung to the side by the Brute Chieftain’s Gravity Hammer.

Out of the corner of his eye, The Arbiter saw the lone Brute Chieftain repeatedly trying to smash Master Chief into the ground. He saw as Master Chief made an attempt to run, the Brute Chieftain using this window of opportunity to smash its Gravity Hammer against Master Chief’s back, the intense pulses of pain going through his back threw him to the ground.

John’s cry of pain rang through Arbiter’s ears. He could hear Cortana cry out for Chief, as the Brute Chieftain laughed, again bashing Master Chief, flinging his body across the room. That was the first time Arbiter heard such a pitiful sound resonate from the armored man; it sent waves of rage throughout his frame.

The Arbiter didn’t know how it happened, but he was at the Brute Chieftain in seconds, roaring as he jammed his Energy Sword up into its back, its body falling limp, that being the last Covenant enemy in sight. The Arbiter flung the Brute Chieftain’s body to the ground, taking great pleasure in seeing its lifeless frame.

But The Arbiter’s body was shaking in fury.

He could feel his blood boiling in his veins, and there was an unusual tingling sensation in his fingers. The rage was something he felt like he couldn’t control, and his brain was so densely clouded that he couldn’t even think of why he was so angry.

Then he heard a cracked cough, and came to his senses…

All the anger poured out of him, seeping out through his armor, and was replaced by worry so fast, that the Arbiter lost his balance. He staggered to Master Chief’s form, looking lost. Chief looked so delicate, he almost didn’t want to touch him. But he forced himself to try to think clearer. Master Chief had withstanded more than this, yet here he was, noble Chief, lying on the ground, broken.

He bent down next to Master Chief, who was lying on his back, his breath short and shallow, and placed a tentative hand on Master Chief’s chest. John’s ribs must have been broken, for he winced at the almost none-existent pressure put on his chest. The Arbiter pulled back, not wanting to hurt John anymore.

“John?” Master Chief did not respond. Surely he knew the Arbiter was there though, because he turned his head towards him. “If you are going to survive, I have to remove your armor.”

“I-- I’m not c-- complaining.”

Arbiter then placed his hands on Chief’s sides, gliding along the sides of his chest, looking for the latch to disconnect Chief’s armor. When he found it, he had to wrench it open as gently as he could manage, for the force from the multiple blows to his chest had dented in Chief’s armor, making it impossible to take it off without hurting Chief.

After the Arbiter got the armor off of Master Chief’s chest, the airtight pressure releasing into the air, Chief took a deep, shaky, painful breath. Chief moaned loudly as the Arbiter took in the sight of Master Chief’s broken body. The damage was clearly extensive, for Chief’s red blood was bubbling through his thick black under-suit. The Arbiter cringed.

Chief pressed his hand on the ground, apparently trying to get up. His breath hitched for the fifth time today, as he fell back down, his body just to broken to function.

“Do not move, Chief! You will damage yourself further!” Said the Arbiter, concerned for his wellbeing. But Chief continued trying to sit up, wincing as he did so. The Arbiter placed his hands on John’s shoulders, gradually pulling him up towards his chest. As the Arbiter placed John’s head on his shoulder, John moaned, for his whole body ached.

“Thel, I called for a EVAC, is he okay?!” Came Cortana’s worried assertion. The Arbiter looked down at Chief, he didn’t remember noticing his body starting to shake. He looked to Cortana remorsefully.

“H-- He is dying.”

The Arbiter didn’t know why he couldn’t control his cracking voice, or why he felt so defeated and lost, but when Chief said his name, he felt like his heart was being ripped in two, for he was starting to see why he had become so upset. This human was the closest thing he had to a friend.

“… T-- Thel…?“

“Yes, John?”

“… I-- I can’t breathe…”

“What can I do?”

“… T-The h-- helmet…”

Thel was anxious. He knew how much Master Chief had to trust someone to allow them the pleasure of seeing his face, plus he has always been curious to see the man behind the mask… He didn’t think to hard about the request, for now, he just wanted John to be as comfortable as possible, and being able to breathe was certainly on the list of comfortable things.

The Arbiter placed one hand on the back of Chief’s neck, holding his head in place. He then placed his other hand on the green helmet and pulled. He was surprised when his fingers ran over silky smooth reddish-brown hair; something he had not expected to see. Chief took another painfully deep breath, his head down, as though he was contemplating his decision of showing Arbiter his face. The Arbiter curiously put his hand to John's chin, lifting his head up, John’s eyes looking away.

John was beautiful. By far, the most exquisite creature the Arbiter had ever been in contact with. The Arbiter He took in every curve and every crease, making sure he wouldn’t forget this gorgeous face. Even if that were possible, he still wanted to make sure.

“… W-- Why don’t y-- you take a p-- picture? I-- It lasts longer…”

“I--…“

The Arbiter was again confused by the human’s choice of words, but this time chose not to address it. He was to enthralled by the spectacle of a man laid out before him, his hand absently stroking John’s cheek. Before he could realize what he was doing, a shaking hand came to his, wrapping itself around his wrist. The hand around his wrist did not pull his away, but began stroking his wrist with his shaking fingers.

Master Chief looked up at Arbiter, into those beautifully alien eyes, and tried to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he became victim to a violent fit of coughing, crimson blood splattering on Arbiter’s armor. 

John was in pain, and was dying in the Arbiter’s arms. Nothing was said, the only thing on there minds were each other.

John didn’t remember when he started crying, but when he realized that he was, he also realized something else. He realized that the Arbiter, Thel, was something special to him. A friend, yes. Something more? Maybe. But what he was feeling was more than just friendship.

Thel was responsible for the glassing of Reach, but Thel was also his comrade on the battlefield, and his friend. He had not known Thel long, but his heart was screaming at him to tell the Arbiter what he was feeling. 

“… T-Thel…?”

“Yes, John?”

John figured he should get straight to the point, for he could feel another painful fit of coughing rising from deep within his broken chest. He rose his hand to Thel’s four-jawed face, and wondered to himself, “Am I in love… with a Sangheili?”

“I-- I-- d-- do you--?“

“Shhh.” Thel whispered, stroking John’s cheek softly. John didn’t want to shush. He wanted to confess his love for Thel, before he died here in his arms. He wanted to tell the world that he loved Thel, and that he was most certainly NOT a robot with no emotions.

“N-- No. I-- I-- have to say this.”

“But John--”

“I-- I love y-- you, Thel, I love y-- you.”

John then started to cough loud and hard, his body violently shaking from the pain. The Arbiter held on to Chief as he rode out the coughing. John’s heartbreaking moans of pain stung on Thel’s ears, for they reminded him that the man he Loved was going to die, he knew it, but all he could do was hold him and try to make him comfortable in their last moments together.

“I love you too, John.”

Chief suddenly felt painless, like Arbiter’s words had drained all the pain away, but somewhere in his brain he found the logical explanation… That he was losing to much blood, and becoming numb.

“T-- Thank you.”

They lay there together for the duration it took for the EVAC squad to come. The EVAC squad watched, mystified and horrified, as the Arbiter carried Chief’s seemingly lifeless body onto the Pelican, his head still resting on his shoulder.

“… D-- Did you get C—Cortana… Did she get t-- the information…?” asked Chief.

“Yes. She is safe, and the information has successfully been copied.”

“… T-- That’s… g-- good...“

Arbiter looked to Chief, thinking about what was in store for their future. If John survived, he was positive he wanted to have Chief lie down next to him every night, hopefully one of them not dying as they did so. The Arbiter then noticed the curious Marines watching as he stroked John’s face, and chuckled. This was going to take some getting used to.

When they made it back to Forward Into Dawn, Master Chief was immediately taken into the medical center, still in the Arbiter’s arms. He laid the groaning man on the surgical table, the doctors preparing him for surgery. The surgeons told the Arbiter that he could not be in the room for the surgery, so he stayed outside the door. 

For hours he paced down the medical center hallway, trying to stay calm, but he just couldn’t. He was imagining a life with John, growing old and arguing about witch planet they were going to live on. He didn’t know when he started crying but he sure as hell did, and Cortana, who had been silent the whole time, sensed his worry and desperation, so she decided to say something.

“I’m happy for you two.”

Either the Arbiter didn’t hear Cortana, or he didn’t care what she had to say at the moment, but none the less, he didn’t answer.

”… He’s going to be okay.”

The Arbiter stopped pacing.

“Do you really believe so?”

“Yes. He’s got a secret power helping him out.”

Before the arbiter could even begin to imagine just what she was talking about, the door to John’s room opened, the surgeon all coming out of the room. The Arbiter ran up to the door, anxiously asking if John was okay. The doctor lifted his clipboard up, looking it over before saying anything.

“His body was horrifically damaged; his lungs were punctured multiple times do to the extreme damage to his ribs. The broken ribs punctured several other organs also. If he wasn’t wearing that armor when he got hit… let’s just be glad he was. The surgery was a success. He’ll be fine. You are his, boyfri- uh… mate… right?”

“News gets around fast!” said Cortana, as the Arbiter nodded.

“You can go in then… He’s awake now. Just don’t touch his chest.” The Doctor then moved out of the way of the door, letting the nervous Arbiter into the room. Surprisingly, John had not put anything over his face. He must have been to exhausted to do all that.

Arbiter almost ran to the bed he was so glad. John must have been doused up on drugs, because he acted like he didn’t even know the Arbiter was there. But when Thel spoke, saying John’s name, he realized who was there and his expression became joyful.

“Thel?”

“Yes, John?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, John.”

The Arbiter gently grabbed a hold of John’s hand and gave it a Sangheili equivalent of a kiss. John blushed and the Arbiter almost lost his wits. John was so beautiful, it was almost unfair, but it wasn’t, because he had him all to himself.

“I just can’t believe you are still functioning.”

"I'm a lucky man."


End file.
